Naava Frank: Learning Communities for Professional

Learning Communities for Professional Development: Case Studies and Best Practices

Leader: Naava FrankKnowledge CommunitiesCAJE - August 2007

www.knowledgecommunities.org 2

Who are we?


Who in this room is currently part of a peer learning

community or Community of Practice?


Goals for Today Understand and experience three core

processes of learning communities: surface questions/needs build connections elicit tacit knowledge

Understand concepts of: social capital, emergence and tacit knowledge

Experience some aspects of a learning community

Generate and take home ideas you can try with your constituents


Why does it matter who we are?


Compare and Contrast

How is a learning community / CoP different from a traditional adult education class?

What is a Community of Practice (CoP)?


What is a CoP? A Community of Practice is a community of professionals who share a

common set of problems and systematically share their knowledge, expertise and tools in order to improve their practice and the performance of their organization by interacting on an ongoing basis.

“Wisdom resides in the skills, understandings, and relationships…as well as in the tools, documents, and processes of practitioners in the field.”

From Cultivating Communities of Practice, Wegner, McDermott and Snyder

Communities of Practice can exist within organizations or between organizations, at a local level or on a national level.

“A diverse group of people engaged in real work over a significant period of time during which they build things, solve problems, learn and invent…in short they evolve a practice that is highly skilled and highly creative.”

From Customer Inspired Innovation: Creating the Future, Bauer


Three Key Components of a Community of Practice

Members – Informal Educators, Admission Professionals, Geriatric Case Workers, Preschool Directors

Domain – Informal Education, Admission, Geriatric Care, Educational Leadership

Activities focused on sharing practice – Face-to-face meetings, teleconferences, projects, listservs, surveys, visits, shared web space


I. Surface Questions/Needs

Connect individuals to the content / domain

Exercise: Create a questions map

Poet and critic John Ciardi said, “A good question is never answered. It is not a bolt to be tightened into place but a seed to be planted and to bear more seed toward the hope of greening the landscape of idea.”


How can the community help you find answers to these questions?


Discussion

How did you feel standing up and asking questions in front of a group?

What makes it easier? What makes it harder? Which of these questions are material for

community learning?


Other Methods for Surfacing Questions Around a Learning Activity

Before Survey or email

At the beginning As part of introductions

During Pause for questions

At the end What do we still need to know (emergence)

After Debrief

Using Technology Survey Monkey and Wiki


Other Methods for Surfacing Questions Around a Learning Activity

Before Survey or email

At the beginning As part of introductions

During Pause for questions

At the end What do we still ned to know (emergence)

After Debrief

Using Technology Survey Monkey and Wiki



II. Build Connections

Connect Individuals To: Peers Community Weaver Resources Experts People with similar problem People who solved the problem


Weaving the Web

Communities are much more than their calendar of events The heart of a community is the web of relationships among community

members, and much of the day-to-day occurs in one-on-one exchanges. Thus, a common mistake in community design is to focus too much on public events.

A community coordinator needs to "work" the private space between meetings, dropping in on community members to discuss their current technical problems and linking them with helpful resources, inside or outside the community. These informal, "back channel" discussions actually help orchestrate the public space and are key to successful meetings.

Cultivating Communities of Practice, Wenger, McDermott and Snyder


Social Capital The core idea of social capital theory is that

social networks have value

“The aggregate of actual or potential resources which are linked to the ...membership in a group” (Bourdieu in Everingham, 2001).

“The existence of a certain (i.e. specific) set of informal values or norms shared among members of a group that permit cooperation among them” (Fukuyama).

Bridging and bonding behavior

Citations above from Wikipedia


Social Capital Exercise:

Write on newsprint

One key challenge you face at work

One key resource that helps you with workEx. person, book, course, experience etc.


Community Weaver

Helps people see and build connections

What connections do you see in our community?


Other Ways to Help People Connect to Social Capital

Before, During, After, Using TechnologyMembers directory Introductions on a listserv Socialize together Community Weaver List of resources along with namesCapture notes or questions with names


III. Elicit Tacit Knowledge“Let me tell you where the real value comes in, not when somebody’s giving you advice. The real ‘Ah-ha’ comes about when you’re sitting there as part of a group assessing the other person’s issue. It has no resemblance to yours. All of a sudden, you get a break-through thought. Because you’ve emptied your mind of your own garbage to get into somebody else’s, ideas can come out. I see that over and over gain. The real value comes not when you’re working on your own deal, but when you’re working on somebody else’s.”

Free Agent Nation by Daniel H. Pink p. 138


Definition of Tacit Knowledge“We know more than we can tell.” – Michael Polanyi

Silent or unspoken knowledge Knowledge that people carry in their minds and

is, therefore, difficult to access Often, people are not aware of the knowledge

they possess or how it can be valuable to others Effective transfer of tacit knowledge generally

requires extensive personal contact and trust A particular context evokes the knowledge


What Are Ways to Elicit Tacit Knowledge?

Discussion Writing Case Studies Stories Projects


Emergence

“An emergent behavior or emergent property can appear when a number of simple entities (agents) operate in an environment, forming more complex behaviors as a collective.”

“The arising of novel and coherent structures, patterns and properties during the process of self-organization in complex systems” (Goldstein).

Citations above from Wikipedia


Conclusion

What are you going to do as a result of this session?

What questions did we not answer?

Plus / Delta


Teachers draw on many sources of professional development but they participate most frequently in school-based activities. We found that when teachers draw on a combination of sources, including teacher networks, external professional groups, and school-based activities, their professional development is overall of a higher quality than when they draw primarily on only one source.Teacher Professional Development in Chicago: Supporting Effective Practice (2001) Smylie et.al. Consortium on Chicago School Research at the University of Chicago.


Bibliography & Resources For Further Learning Bauer, R. (2003) Members evolve more creative practice. Retrieved June 1, 2007 from The

Knowledge Management Advantage Web site http://www.providersedge.com/kma/cop.htm.

CP Square Web Site - A CoP for people running Communities of Practice (Runs an online course on how to facilitate a CoP) .www.cpsquare.com

Everingham, C. (2001). Reconstituting Community. Retrieved July 31, 2007 from Wikipedia Web site http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_capital.

Fukuyama, F. Social Capital. Retrieved July 31, 2007 from Wikipedia Web site http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_capital.

Goldstein, J. (1999) Emergency. Retrieved June 15, 2007 from Wikipedia Web site http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence.

Pink, D.H. (2002). Free agent nation: The future of working for yourself. New York, New York: Warner Books, Inc. p. 138.

Polanyi, M. (1983). Tacit Knowledge. Retrieved July 31, 2007 from Wikipedia Web site http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacit_knowledge.

Wegner, E., McDermott, R., Snyder, W. (2002 ) Seven Principles for Cultivating Communities of Practice. Retrieved June 1, 2007 from

http://www.geofunders.org/_uploads/documents/live/Communities%20of%20Practice%20Guidelines%20(GEO).doc

Wegner, E., McDermott, R., Snyder, W. (2002). Cultivating Communities of practice. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.


Naava Frank, Ed.D. is committed to fostering collegial sharing for professional growth through the creation of Communities of Practice. In all of her work, she searches for new meaning and depth and for the many ways it can be shared.

Knowledge CommunitiesKnowledge CommunitiesHelping Foundations and Non-Profits Build Communities

that Share Knowledge

Web site: www.knowledgecommunities.org Phone: 617-864-2248

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